


Can I Get A Waffle

by BooksandKpop



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, First Meetings, I couldn't help myself, M/M, Memes, Minor Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, honestly i'm just a sucker for matsuhana, soulmarks AU, vine references
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:01:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24811252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BooksandKpop/pseuds/BooksandKpop
Summary: As with many things in his life, Hanamaki Takahiro’s soulmark was related to a meme. More specifically, a vine. Soulmates aside, he knew from the moment he discovered those words printed along the inside of his left arm that the man who had completed his reference without a moment’s hesitation was the perfect person for him.
Relationships: Hanamaki Takahiro/Matsukawa Issei
Comments: 20
Kudos: 264





	Can I Get A Waffle

**Author's Note:**

> So MatsuHana are my otp in case you didn't know, I just couldn't help myself. Because of course, in a universe where they would meet a different way their first interaction would be a meme. It just fits them I think.
> 
> Huge thank you to everyone on twitter who voted on which meme I should use for this fic, and to Kath and T for giving me encouragement and including me in the power hour! I love y'all!

Finding out who your soulmate was could either be the easiest thing in the world or the most difficult. You could meet your soulmate a hundred times over, walk past them in the street or share a class with them in college, and never know they were your destined other-half. Because if you never spoke to them, their words would never appear on your skin. 

Some people had it pretty easy. First meetings often meant introductions, and nothing screamed “you’re my soulmate” like having their name printed on your body in permanent ink. Other times the words appeared in visible places, on backs of hands or exposed shins and it was hard to miss it when they appeared so clearly the moment the words left your soulmates mouth.  But for others, the discovery of a simple “excuse me” or “have a nice day” as they get ready for bed after a long day can be the most terrifying feeling in the world. The knowledge that your soulmate may have slipped through your fingertips and you didn’t even notice. 

Then, there were the in-betweens. When you don’t discover the mark until hours later but the words are unique enough to remember who it was. A scrawl of “I love your shoes!” or “your total is fourteen dollars” can be enough to bring two soulmates together despite how general they may be.

As with many things in his life, Hanamaki Takahiro’s soulmark was related to a meme. More specifically, a vine. Soulmates aside, he knew from the moment he discovered those words printed along the inside of his left arm that the man who had completed his reference without a moment’s hesitation was the perfect person for him. 

It had started as a normal Friday. Sleep through five alarms before his roommate dragged him out of bed, pull on his most comfortable pair of sweatpants and an oversized hoodie, steal a sip of Oikawa’s coffee when he wasn’t looking and then haul ass to the university so he wouldn’t be late to his eight am lab. He had his routine perfected over the last few months, and today was the same as always. 

Even lunchtime was the same as usual, grab a crappy sandwich and a bottle of high sugar energy drink from the cafeteria and sneak into the astrology common room to bother Oikawa. After lunch, they went for a walk and discussed plans for the weekend. They ended up in the café where Oikawa’s not-quite-boyfriend worked, and of course, he happened to be on shift. Hiro rolled his eyes at the ‘coincidence’ and got into the queue to order a drink. If he was going to have to deal with the weirdly aggressive flirting thing they had going on he definitely needed to be caffeinated. 

Iwaizumi gave him a smile when they arrived at the front of the line, and then immediately glared at Oikawa beside him.

“Welcome to Coffee Castle, what can I get you both this afternoon?”

Naturally, Oikawa ordered the sweetest drink possible. Hiro wasn’t even sure if he could taste the coffee under all that syrup. He just got a latte, in a to-go cup please and thank you because if things got out of hand he had every intention of leaving and pretending he didn’t know his roommate. It had worked before, no reason it shouldn’t work this time too. 

They ended up sitting at the counter, just close enough that Oikawa could openly stare at Iwaizumi’s very nicely toned biceps as he took orders and then rotated to making the drinks when a new kid came on shift, but also just far enough away that Iwaizumi couldn’t physically reach out and slap Oikawa for his comments. Hiro just sipped his coffee and enjoyed the otherwise peaceful atmosphere of the coffee shop. 

Sitting in the coffee shop gave him ample opportunity to engage in his third-favourite activity, behind sifting through the internet to find obscure memes and doing chemistry practicals. That was people-watching, a habit he had picked up as a kid and never really grew out of. People were interesting, observing their mannerisms when they were being watched and when they thought they weren’t, the way they prepared themselves to order their coffee or didn’t, how they passed the time as they waited in the queue - it was all so fascinating. Hiro used to try and make guesses and observations about people as they passed by. That girl was a teaching assistant, that guy was avoiding a pissed partner, that couple were not brother and sister and were tired of people assuming they were. It was a fun game. 

The lunch rush had died down and the queue only had two people in it. Hiro was replying to an email from a lecturer about his work placement when the bell above the door chimed to signal someone else had walked in. His coffee was long gone and he had a lecture in twenty minutes so he was probably just going to get a few of the café’s very delicious cream puffs and head back to campus, leaving Oikawa to flirt horribly with Iwaizumi who was going on break any minute now. He didn’t even look up as a body slid into the seat at the counter beside him, too busy trying to remember whether this woman was a Doctor or Professor because that was a mistake you only ever made once in your academic career. 

“Iwa-chan! Can you make me another drink before you take your break?”

“Not a chance Shittykawa, I’m already on my break.”

This was nothing unusual, honestly. The first couple of times Hiro had witnessed this he had been certain that Iwaizumi genuinely disliked Oikawa. But over time and the more he watched them, he came to realise that there was something disgustingly domestic about the way they bickered back and forth. Hiro had even learned a few new awful nicknames he could call his roommate to piss him off from Iwaizumi’s litany of insults. It was only a matter of waiting before they would surely end up together. Hiro just hoped the resulting explosion would end in Iwaizumi’s dorm, and not his and Oikawa’s. He had lived with a guy in his first year of uni who sexiled him far more than he was comfortable with. 

Today was a bit more physical than usual. Probably due to the length of time Oikawa had been here teasing Iwaizumi and the low volume of people in the store. Iwaizumi was always very careful about not causing too much of a scene when he was at work, even though Hiro had seen the looks of respect the café manager shot the barista when he wasn’t looking. Iwaizumi could probably pour coffee over Oikawa’s head and the manager would cheer for him, or something. Oikawa would probably enjoy it too, after his initial whining phase. 

But there was just something hilarious about the insults and rolled eyes and slapped hands and elbows that were flying faster and faster between the couple that made Hiro start to chuckle under his breath. It reminded him of a truly iconic vine, and he was never one to go against his instinct to quote memes or vines when given the opportunity. In fact, looking back at it Hiro was certain that this right here was what they called fate. So he sat up straight in his seat and at the exact perfect volume he called out. 

“Can I get a waffle?”

“Can I  _ please  _ get a waffle?”

Hiro whipped his head around so fast that he could have given himself a sore neck if he wasn’t so used to hanging upside down over the edge of their couch to stare at Oikawa when he came back late from extra volleyball practice and freak him out. The guy who had sat down beside him was regarding Hiro with equal measures of interest, one of his very thick eyebrows half-raised in amusement. He had a mop of dark, messy curls falling across his forehead and covering the tops of his ears, and his lazy eyes and soft smirk very much gave him the appearance of someone who was just going with the flow of whatever the universe threw at him. He was hot, and Hiro was smitten. 

“Did you just finish my vine reference?”

“Did you just make a vine reference in public?”

His lips tugged a little higher and damn he was so Hiro’s type it wasn’t fair. He had completely tuned out the disaster that was Oikawa and Iwaizumi happening behind him to give his sole focus to the beautiful man in front of him. There was no way he was going to let someone like this out of his sight. 

“I’m Hanamaki Takahiro. I have to go to a lecture now because I am a responsible final year chemistry major who is trying to get a good work placement, but that cashier there is pseudo-dating my roommate and one of them will absolutely give you my number.”

It’s not that Hiro was worried about rejection that he was eager to get away from this beautiful man in front of him. It was more along the thinking that if he didn’t leave right now before he said another word then Hiro was not going to make it to this lecture and he really needed perfect attendance this semester. So with a wink and a salute, he grabbed his bag and yelled goodbye to Oikawa and Iwaizumi before darting out the café. He would just have to text and ask one of them to bring him home cream puffs later. 

He was a little distracted during his lecture, thinking about the eyebrows guy who had completed his vine reference with the correct intonation and everything. But Oikawa had sent him an unintelligible string of emojis even by Hiro’s standards, so he hoped that meant his hint had been taken and it wouldn’t be long until he would get a text from a new number. He had another lecture after this though, with a lecturer who had zero tolerance for phones during his class. So Hiro turned his off, slipped it into his bag and forced himself to pay attention. This was the material he hoped to continue to study after all. 

Another gruelling hour later and Hiro was free. He had to stop by his professor’s office for a meeting and then he could finally go home. Friday’s were always such busy days it was painful. At least he had the hope that when he got back to his apartment Oikawa would have gotten him cream puffs and maybe even a handsome guys number, but if neither of those was true at least he could look forward to their routine of ordering take out and watching shitty movies until they both passed out on the couch. 

The trek back to his apartment was tedious but Hiro felt lighter than air. The professor was impressed with his academic performance and had agreed to take him into her lab for work placement. It was a dream come true, and if he did well and she gave him a good report then he was guaranteed a place in the grad programme next year. He was not above skipping with joy, so that’s exactly what he did, completely ignoring the strange looks some students shot him. Hiro thought they should really mind their own business, it wasn’t like a tall man with bubblegum pink hair skipping across the campus quad at six pm on a Friday evening was the weirdest thing ever to be seen around here. He still had never gotten the image of what happened during rag week during his second year out of his head. 

Oikawa was dancing around their apartment singing loudly and out of tune to ABBA songs when Hiro arrived. It fit so perfectly with his current good mood that he didn’t even let loose one of his usual snarky quips, instead he just shucked off his shoes and dropped his bag behind the couch before joining his roommate in his revelry. They joined hands and sang awfully until there was a banging on the wall from their neighbours telling them to please shut up and then they both collapsed onto the couch in a fit of giggles. If there was one thing he would miss the most when he graduated it would be sharing an apartment with Oikawa. Despite their differences and strange habits, they got along very well. Hiro would even go so far as to say Oikawa was his closest friend. 

When they did eventually settle down, Oikawa fixed Hiro with a very pointed look. Hiro just raised an eyebrow in return and then immediately started thinking about the man he had met at the café. 

“Did he ask you for my number?”

“Makki, do you even know who he is?”

“Nope.”

Hiro popped the last syllable and watched as his roommate’s face morphed into one of sheer glee. Oikawa clapped his hands together and shuffled so they were sitting more comfortably on their shitty couch before reaching out to put one hand on Hiro’s knee. 

“That man, who for some reason seemed smitten with you, was Matsukawa Issei. He is Iwa-chan’s partner for their final-year engineering project.”

Well, that couldn’t possibly have worked out better. His smile stretched across his face and crinkled his eyes and Hiro’s heart thudded loudly in his chest. He didn’t even care that he had somehow not met this guy before despite all the time he spent third-wheeling with Oikawa and Iwaizumi, because their first meeting had been perfect, for want of a better word. 

“So, did you give him my number?”

“I did you one better. I invited him and Iwa-chan over to join us for dinner and movie night tonight.”

They both ended up on the floor after Hiro threw himself at his roommate with enough force to knock them off the couch. No matter what any jealous assholes said, Oikawa was the kind of person who would go above and beyond to do nice things for the people he cared about. Hiro considered himself blessed to be counted in that small circle. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to change into more date acceptable clothes before there was a knocking on their apartment door. It didn’t really matter though, Matsukawa had already seen him in his sweats and hoodie and still wanted to come around. That was enough to make Hiro grin and race Oikawa to answer the door. He won, by a fraction of an inch, and ended up with a pouting brunette plastered against his back. 

“Iwa-chan! You made it, and Mattsun is here too!”

Iwaizumi rolled his eyes but Hiro caught the fond look on his face before it disappeared under his scowl of indifference. He was far more interested in the taller man standing just behind him though. Curly hair and thick eyebrows and an amused smirk watched him. 

“Get off me you hanger bastard, so we can let our guests in.”

Oikawa whined and pouted and complained about the nickname, but he did detach himself enough for Hiro to step aside and usher Iwaizumi and Matsukawa into their apartment. It was then he noticed they were each carrying plastic bags, and the smell of curry assaulted his nostrils. His roommate had actually planned this out properly while Hiro was busy dying in lectures. Their guests had brought dinner. 

“Right, I’ll grab plates and glasses. Do you guys want beer or something else to drink?”

He didn’t bother tamping down on the joy in his voice as he slid on socked feet towards the kitchen. Hiro was happy, he felt a bubble of excitement grow in his chest as he bounced around getting what they needed for dinner. When they all got settled down in front of the shitty tv Hiro was buzzing. He had his favourite dinner, a glass of beer and amazing company. He and Matsukawa hadn’t said much beyond a proper introduction but he could feel the warmth the taller guy radiated from where he was comfortable sprawled out on the beanbag at the foot of the couch. Hiro was perched on a throne of cushions to his left and Oikawa and Iwaizumi had claimed the couch. It was perfect. 

The night was an absolute success. He and Matsukawa shared more than just appreciation for classic vines. He found out that the engineering major was a cultured meme consumer, had a similar music taste and was well capable of dishing out scalding commentary on the shitty movie they had chosen to watch. Hiro was very close to admitting he may be falling a little bit in love. They exchanged phone numbers and Hiro was more than a little pleased at the fact that they saved each other’s contact names as vine references - as if he didn’t think highly enough of Matsukawa after today. 

Finally, after he and Oikawa had cleaned up made their weekend plans, Hiro said his goodnight and headed to bed. It wasn’t until he went to pull his sleep shirt on over his head that something caught his eye. Right there, printed in clean script on the inside of his left bicep, was a string of words. Hiro read them over and over again, tracing them with his finger to make sure it was real and he wasn’t imagining it. His stomach erupted in butterflies and his heart was fit to burst. And then he started to laugh. 

Because of course, what would his life be if his soulmark wasn’t a meme - or more accurately, the second half of a vine reference. Oikawa poked his head into Hiro’s room in confusion to find out what exactly he was laughing about. And then he laughed too, pulling Hiro into a tight hug of joy. His phone buzzed with an incoming text and when Hiro saw the contact name he lit up like an industrial Christmas tree. 

**Jared, 19**

< So, look what I just found on my knee.

< _ Image attached _

Hiro felt tears drip down his face as the proof stared right back at him. He awkwardly managed to snap a photo of his own and sent a response. 

**Alex!**

> Oh my fucking god

> _ Image attached _

There was no better way to prove that Matuskawa was the perfect person for him than their matching soulmarks, a vine reference branded forever into their skin. Hiro slept very little that night, the excitement too much overflowing and racing under his skin. But when he did eventually drift off, there was one clear thing he dreamed about. And it made him grin in his sleep.

“Can I get a waffle?”

“Can I  _ please  _ get a waffle?”


End file.
